I remember back in 2004, I was walking through the streets of Florence and I stopped by a Panerai boutique and thought to myself, “I’m never going to spend that kind of money on a luxury fake watch.”
And here I am, 18 years later, eating my words.
I’m participating in a charity golf tournament – ‘The Big Pilot Challenge’ – as an IWC ambassador, and am wearing an aaa quality replica IWC Big Pilot’s Watch TOP GUN Edition “Mojave Desert.” The watch will be auctioned by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation to support the Miami-based nonprofit Dibia Dream which creates opportunities for aspiring athletes in underserved communities. [Editor’s Note: The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Auction took place in May 2022; you can read more about it here.
I’ve been formulating a plan for a while now about how to distribute my watch collection to my kids – I know they’ll treasure them – but I’ve also been thinking about different ways to do something with charity, as well. This is a start.
I may be an ambassador now, but for the longest time I was just a fan of the brand. Back in college, my screensaver was actually a perfect replica IWC GST Automatic alarm. I thought it was just the cleanest watch, and I aspired to own one, but at the time that wasn’t realistic for me.
It wasn’t until I won my first Super Bowl, in 2002, that I finally got the watch I wanted. After that win, I had a few bucks in my pocket and I went to Tourneau on 57th [Street in New York] and walked out with best 1:1 fake IWC UK. I still have it today.
Later, for my 30th birthday, my wife gave me a white gold Portugieser. She surprised me with my whole family there. That’s the watch I wear on the most important occasions in my life. I even wore it to the White House.
My formal relationship with Swiss made replica IWC began organically. I already knew Johann Rupert, the CEO of Richemont, and he said there was something he wanted me to do. The next thing I knew I was taking a meeting in New York with Chris Grainger-Herr, the CEO of IWC. We hit it off. This was back in ’18 or ’19. It was incredible to work with a company I had looked up to so much.
One of the first things we did was a campaign about how we both got our start in Boston. I love the whole story. And now I’m here, wearing this cheap fake IWC Big Pilot’s Watch TOP GUN Edition “Mojave Desert” that will be auctioned for a good cause. My name is on the caseback, but it won’t be mine for long. I’m wearing it today, and then it will go to someone else. And that’s how I see most of my watches in general. Eventually they’ll go to my family, and in this case, a great charity. I love that you can wear the Big Pilot’s Watch TOP GUN Edition “Mojave Desert” so casually. It’s a great watch and I’ve been wearing mine around a ton.
In the Bucs’ quarterback room, we talk about high quality replica watches more than anything else. We’re always discussing the latest releases, asking each other what we think about them. Watchmaking is a blank canvas, and these brands are artists. On the football field, I try to see what other quarterbacks can’t, and that’s exactly what these brands are doing – seeing things differently. There’s real innovation going on in watchmaking.
I didn’t expect such a deep, niche culture to exist when I first got into watches. Now I have connections with a lot of guys that you’d never imagine – I’m not going to say who they are – and it’s not football that we connect through. It’s Swiss movement super clone watches.